Successful Mission
by mika zero-zero twenty-one
Summary: After several months of being apart, Joe goes to France to see Francoise. While still apart, they reflect on what they should and shouldn't have done. And when they finally come together, they forget those sad memories and accept their futures. ONE SHOT!


I imagine that this will be a one-shot. This time, unlike last one-shot, I will actually warn you of what is to come. It's **straight-up 009-003**. There are hints of shonen-ai, but they're so mild you can hardly pick them up. And it's a songfic to Successful Mission, the Saber Marionette J theme song. To anyone who really likes C009, see the anime of SMJ. The manga is creepy. So is the fact that I wrote this at a swim meet while listening to my CD/MP3 player to Successful Mission. It's in Japanese. I bumped the lyrics from anime(no space)lyrics(dot)com.

lyrics are **bolded**

I don't own Cyborg 009 or the song Successful Mission, or Ribon no Kishi for that matter. All kick butt!

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Successful Mission

A one-shot that is rather long, this is

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**I came to this land to protect you.  
****I was born to meet you.  
****The moment I wake,  
****Prisms start to spin around me.**

Joe looked out the train window. It was still a long way off to Francoise's apartment. He sighed and returned to the manga book he was reading. For some reason, he'd just grabbed it and paid for it without looking at the title. The title was, translated, Knight in Ribbons ((Japanese: Ribon no Kishi)). The story was about a girl named Sapphire who had been born female but raised male to claim the throne of her kingdom. It had apparently been meant for girls. Joe imagined that Francoise would have liked it.

_Who am I kidding? _Joe asked himself. Everywhere he looked these days, he saw her kind face and smiling aquamarine eyes. For a while, he had tried to kid himself out of thinking that he was head over heels in love with her. That first moment he had laid eyes on her, something had changed.

And then he protected her numerous times. She had cared for him almost as many times.

They had been in constant communication. Joe shook his head to that thought. That was because they were cyborgs, trying to destroy their creator. They _weren't _going back and forth with how much they loved one another. That one moment where Jet and he had been certain they were going to die, he had held tightly onto Jet and prepared to tell Ivan to tell Francoise that he loved her.

Had it been Destiny that brought them so close? Or was it a cruel twist of Fate? Whichever it was, Joe was grateful for it. It had brought together somewhat of a "family" – Dr. Gilmore the father-like figure, Ivan the baby brother, and the rest were struggling teenagers trying to find their way.

**I'm here now to love you.  
****I was born to hold you.  
****Lies and truths...  
****All lies within me.**

Francoise sat on her window seat. She looked out into the streets of Paris, which were currently flooded by rainwater. It almost made her miss the life of constant suspense and adventure. And in thinking of those not-so-far-off days, the thought of a certain Japanese male entered her head.

It was Joe Shimamura, the cyborg team's 'leader'. He was always watching out for her, whether he knew he was doing it or not. He had gotten her out of so many near-death predicaments. Francoise had lost count after the one with the ten twins. It was just the sheer courage of it all that impressed her. Sure, she was usually the one who had to see the bloodshed of the whole fight sequence, but in that, they were equals. There had never been an occasion where Joe looked down on her. He always managed a polite "thanks" when she cared for him. Jet would just leap right back up and get mauled once again. Joe was patient and waited.

Francoise could nearly feel his breath against her neck once again. She rubbed her neck and turned to see if he was really there, but it was just a memory now. Sighing, she turned to face back out her apartment's window.

As she watched the multicolored umbrellas go by on the sidewalk below, Francoise wondered if she could see Joe. She accessed the power and found him on a train headed for Paris. She looked him up and down. He was the same Joe she remembered, right down to his hairstyle. But why was he headed to Paris? Francoise tried to control the excitement brimming in her chest. Was he headed here for a visit? He couldn't be. Joe had no clue where she lived – unless Dr. Gilmore had told him. The excitement bubbled up again and she began to dress herself in more appropriate attire. But wait! He was simply wearing jeans and a sweatshirt. Why should she dress up if he was like that?

Still, she was excited. And she had no way to contain her happiness, unless to look at his face as he drew closer and closer.

**I won't let the days I abandon my heart get to me.  
****Tenderness and love  
****Let's take them back once again!**

Joe was still in deep thought.

How many times had it been that he had refused to accept his own feelings for Francoise, back when she was still 003? How many times had she wanted him to accept and he refused as 009? How many times had 009 and 003 rejected one another? Was there any way to change the past? No, Joe knew that. Joe would forever be tagged with the somewhat alter ego-like 009 identity, as Francoise would always have 003's name on her back.

It was now that he scorned 009 for rejecting the feelings that the real Francoise was giving him. 009 had wanted to destroy Black Ghost. 009 didn't want things to get in his way. 009 couldn't always be the hero. 009 admitted defeat when he had to. Yet there was one time that got the best of him. 009 had chased Black Ghost into space with 002 fighting by his side. They had finished Black Ghost for all eternity. And they had nearly been destroyed in the process. 009 made mistakes. And that was the worst.

He could have died and not told Francoise – 003 – that he loved her. He could have died as 009 and not accepted his love for Francoise as Joe. But now it had changed. Every life had returned to its origin to do as it desired. They told one another, at one final meeting, their real names. Not many had stayed in contact. Even Joe and Francoise – 009 and 003 – had broken off to live once again in Japan and France. To that day, neither had told one another how they felt. And Joe was certain, as he looked out the window, that neither he nor Francoise had accepted love.

The manga slid from his hand and he continued to watch as the world passed by outside.

**Day in, day out, like a puppet on a string,  
****Wandering the void between zero and infinity...  
****The strength to sever the tangled strings  
****Still sleeps within your heart.**

Francoise was watching Joe's train as it moved toward her. But it was now with hazy eyes. She was thinking more as his face turned to look out its own window.

Why hadn't she just grabbed him one day and told him? It was because she was nearly a different person. Francoise was always there, but had to share the time with 003. 003 always knew what to do, and was right on top of it. 003 could have slammed 009 up against a wall and kissed him. Francoise could never do anything so blunt and outright. Francoise would tap Joe on the shoulder and blush for a second before kissing him. In reality, Francoise and 003 were the same on the outside. It was what was _inside _that changed the two.

Maybe her feelings were like a schoolgirl crush. It was entirely possible that Joe was merely being polite to her. But that, if it were true, would break her heart. As if she could read the future, she could hear the kind doctor saying to Joe, "I'm sorry…she's killed herself out of depression."

Francoise hated thoughts like that. Her focus returned to normal as she continued to watch the umbrellas passing and the stores crowd with people. Then, she began to see Joe – if it happened to be that he didn't love her in return – finally realizing his love and weeping over her dead body. Part of her wanted to cherish that, while another part despised the very thought, and a third part merely thought it was entertaining. Francoise could hardly choose which to pick as the scene played over and over in her head. Out of the whole thought, her earlier ideas of Joe coming for a visit seemed utterly impossible now. Now, so she thought, Joe was coming to Paris to tell her that they hadn't destroyed Black Ghost and she had to become 003 once more. Meaning that this time, Joe would really die.

A tear slid down her pretty face. And another, and another, and another…like the rain.

**I live on without forgetting my tears,  
****So that I can feel kindness.  
****My system is engraved  
****With distant memories.**

After several hours, the train reached Paris. Joe stood and stretched his arms and legs, wanting desperately now to see Francoise. There weren't very many people on board, so he made a quick exit.

_Now, let's see…_ He thought, pulling a little slip of paper with directions from the station to the apartment building. As he left the station, he found that it was raining here in Paris. So _that _was what the lady who had served drinks had been trying to tell him! Joe smiled and dug an umbrella out of his bag. He walked down the street and turned a corner. It wasn't much farther. Seeing a flower shop, he poked his head in.

Sure, the Japanese boy had no idea how to understand French, but it seemed simple enough. He'd already exchanged his Yen for European currency. Joe was positive the sign above the roses said there was a sale, and how much a dozen cost. So he gently lifted a bouquet out of a bucket and paid for them. The storeowner thanked him and he was on his way once more. The skies were still giving water to the Earth outside, so Joe raised his umbrella once again. Normally, he wouldn't care about getting wet. He'd love it, as a matter of fact. But today was special.

Today he was on his own mission. This mission was not to destroy something. This mission didn't need 009. It didn't need any of the cyborg team. Yet it required all of them inside Joe's mind. Butterflies swarmed his stomach. What if Francoise had found someone else? He forced the thought from his mind and pressed onward.

**I'll walk with you  
****So that you can regain your smile.  
****Love and betrayal  
****Are equally hidden.**

Francoise heard a knock on her door. Slowly, she rose from her seat and debated on answer it. Finally, she looked through the little glass to see who it was. And her heart nearly froze.

Joe was standing outside her door. With a dozen red roses. He was looking around and looked at the door once again. He knocked. Francoise frantically finger-combed her hair and took a deep breath to calm herself. She opened the door.

"Francoise?" Joe asked her, nearly in disbelief. He looked her up and down, as did she to him. He blushed. "I brought you these."

Joe handed her the roses. Francoise turned a delicate shade of pink. "Thank you, Joe…"

They stood in the hall for a minute, looking at one another and blushing. Francoise touched the petals of the roses. Only one hadn't bloomed. Then she remembered her manners and shook her head. "Would you like to come in?"

He nodded and she allowed him to enter. She closed the door and walked to her kitchen to put the flowers in a vase.

"So…have you been in touch with any others?" Joe asked, trying to start a conversation in the tense atmosphere. There was silence for a minute or two while the water came from the faucet into the vase.

"No…not really." Francoise answered. She carried the vase, full of the beautiful flowers, to the living room and invited Joe to sit down on a couch across from another couch, where Francoise seated herself. Joe was adorable – his head was somewhat hung and his eyes were staring blankly out into space, and his cheeks were bright pink.

Joe looked up to Francoise. Her nervous aqua eyes were looking over, out the window, and she was a very light pink. He smiled and simply admired her beauty behind the roses.

**To believe in people, you can't be afraid.  
****Looking straight ahead,  
****Let's change the future.**

Francoise put on a kettle of water for tea. She sat down once again and found Joe admiring the budding rose.

"I guess when we still referred to one another as numbers, we never stopped to enjoy the simple things," Joe said, looking up to her. All she could do was nod in response. "It's sad that we didn't meet before. We might have been able to change what happened."

"You can't change the past, Joe," Francoise said. "But what we _can _change is the future."

Joe laughed. "You're right, Francoise. Nothing we did could have changed the outcome."

"Don't be negative," Francoise said. She sat down next to him. "If you're negative, then I'll feel awful and from there, we'll continue making one another miserable into the evening."

Joe blinked, then burst out laughing. It felt wonderful to laugh. Francoise stared for a moment, then joined him. They took turns recalling funny incidents that had happened when they went by numbers. When the kettle whistled, Francoise left to get it. Joe looked out the window and saw that it was near dusk.

"Hey Francoise…" He said. "Put a jacket on."

"Okay…" She agreed. She left the kettle on the powerless stove and retrieved her coat. Joe was waiting for her to return. He folded a few notes of the currency into his own coat's pocket.

"Come on!" He said, dragging her out into the hall. They ran down the stairs and out into the twilight.

"Joe, where are we going?" Francoise asked, nearly too caught up to realize what was going on.

"You lead! Pick anywhere!" Joe said, swapping positions with her.

And they ran together through the drizzle through the lamp-lit streets of Paris to where Francoise had decided. She only hoped the Eiffel Tower would still be open when they got there.

**Deep within the eyes of a mechanical doll,  
****A heart is trembling from a programmed dream.  
****The courage to throw out the rusted screw  
****Is beginning to awaken in my heart.**

Joe and Francoise were riding in an elevator up to the first floor of the Eiffel Tower. Lights were coming on across the city.

Joe was swept up by this entire four-hour experience. He knew that Francoise couldn't have laughed like that if she hadn't liked him. Maybe there was part of her that was starting to like the Joe part of him instead of just 009. Or perhaps she'd always been able to see that he was more than a praise-hungry hero was. She _did _have enhanced sight and hearing, after all. But how could she have seen inside of him? It was highly unlikely that she could. Maybe she knew. Girls were like that.

Francoise had been to the Eiffel Tower hundreds of times before. She'd gone as a little girl, she'd gone every year, she'd gone when she'd returned from her cyborg quest, and she had visited a few days ago. Being here this time was the same as all those, but in so many ways, a whole new experience for her. At first, like a child trying a new food would, merely said that it was night instead of broad daylight. Then she insisted that it was because she was a cyborg and could sense things better. Now she _knew_ she was being stubborn with herself when she said it was the rain. But something told her it wasn't any of those things. It was the fact that she was with Joe. Joseph Shimamura, cyborg 009, whatever she called him, it was the same man she was speaking of. She needed 003's courage less and less now. Francoise was becoming more herself than she ever had been.

They were both still cyborgs. But somehow, the human parts of them found their way out on the ride up in the elevator. When they stepped out, the rain had stopped. They giggled and ran across to the next elevator, Joe leading this time.

**Day in, day out, like a puppet on a string,  
****Wandering the void between zero and infinity...  
****The strength to sever the tangled strings  
****Still sleeps within your heart.**

They reached the second floor. The next floor would be the top.

Joe and Francoise ran through the puddles like little children. Both laughed as they splashed the other, then jumped in a puddle for themselves. It was so silly and childish that it became insanely enjoyable.

If the two could have seen things of other worlds, they would have seen themselves sitting on one of the many rails. However, these beings were and were not Joe and Francoise – they were 009 and 003. 009's face was more worn from fighting, his ruby eyes had turned harsh from the sight of death. 003's face was also worn. Her eyes looked on to Joe and Francoise, and she grinned a little. Their souls were entirely human, but their bodies mechanical. As for 009 and 003, they had never had bodies to begin with. They had been placed into Joe and Francoise to adopt bodies. 009 and 003 were entirely mechanical, souls and bodies.

The two sets of outer clones could have sworn that someone else was looking at them at the same moment. Joe and Francoise felt something new in their bodies, and 009 and 003 also felt it. 003 smiled and laid her hand on top of 009's. 009 didn't care. He liked being the hero. Joe and Francoise looked over to one another as they splashed through the same puddle and hit one another head-on. They laughed about it, as they laughed about nearly anything.

"Come on! We'll miss it!" Francoise called to Joe, darting toward the elevator. Joe ran to catch up to her. 009 and 003 jumped down from their posts.

"Shall we join them?" 009 asked.

"We may as well," 003 said, leaning against 009. They ran into the elevator after their counterparts, although they took up no room. Tonight was going to change many things, Joe, 009, Francoise and 003 all knew that. Two were not ready for it. The other pair was already prepared. After tonight, the polar opposites of the same beings could welcome each other once more and become whole. The scene began to get further and further behind them as the elevator reached the top of the tower. They could see the river running by through the window, and the blanket of the night fall upon Paris as the elevator doors opened.

**Deep within the eyes of a mechanical doll,  
****A heart is trembling from a programmed dream.  
****The courage to throw out the rusted screw  
****Is beginning to awaken in my heart.**

Joe and Francoise stepped out into the cool night air. Francoise went as far as she dared toward the railing and looked out onto her beloved city. The lights were burning and shining like candles, and reflected off the Seine River. Looking down at it, she thought she was at the top of the planet. It felt as if nothing could disturb her now from this dream.

A warm feeling pressed itself next to her. Francoise looked over to see Joe, shivering in the cold air. It made her feel cold herself, although her coat was quite warm. Joe saw her looking and smiled. She smiled shyly back at him. Next to them, 009 and 003 had also cuddled up to one another and were gazing out onto Paris.

"We should be heading down soon," The ever-worried Francoise said half to Joe and half to herself. Part of her – _most _of her – didn't want this to ever end. "We may catch colds if we stay up here much longer."

It was 003 talking out of her. 003 would want her to care more for well being than her emotions. Francoise could have cared less if that were the case. Francoise would rot up here with Joe by her side.

"But…" Joe protested. "I have one last thing to give you."

She had already begun heading back toward the elevator. 009 and 003 nodded to one another. It was time. Their existences weren't going to be needed much longer. Francoise turned around to see Joe walking toward her. She ran back toward him, into his arms, and they kissed.

It was a long and passionate kiss. Both knew that they wanted it. Both accepted the very things they'd been rejecting for quite some time. 009 and 003, from within them, melded together with Joe and Francoise. Now neither Joe nor Francoise could stand another moment without one another. They could care less if they were admitted to the hospital for hypothermia. They were together now. Nothing, not even the distance, could separate them. They held onto one another and felt warmth creep up their necks and warm their numbed brains. Joe's hand crept into his pocket and pulled something that was now warm from his own body heat out. He found Francoise's hand, and found the right finger to put it on. She broke away from him to look at what it was.

It was a beautiful golden ring, and a diamond was shimmering at the top of it. Tears spilled down her cheeks and she jumped into Joe's arms once again. She hugged him as close as she could and he twirled her around. Francoise drew back a little while still in his arms.

"Francoise Arnoul…would you marry me?" Joe asked her. She froze and kissed him once again, but this time it was much shorter. Joe took it as a yes.

"Why did you wait so long, Joe?" She managed to whisper.

"Waiting makes everything better, doesn't it?" Joe asked. She pounded her fists against him and laughed through her tears. "Come on, let's go back to your house and get dry."

And so they re-entered the elevator, holding hands and heads filled with nothing but each other.

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AWWWWWWWWWW! 'Tis so cute! How I did it…I have absolutely no clue. I really hope you enjoyed it! The song seemed so perfect for a Cyborg 009 story...ah, you can guess why. And you thought there would be a surprise ending like What I See in You, didn't you? HA! Nope. Thanks so much for reading and remember to leave a review or flame on your way out! Arigato!

((by the way, the chorus is the line that begins with "Day in, day out...))


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